Jan Barton Precinct 10

It’s been a glorious, bona fide spring for everyone to enjoy after a dreary and sometimes difficult winter. Marstons Mills’ River Day was a sunny success thanks to all of the volunteers and contributors. It looks like we are headed into a warm and wonderful summer.

One of my constituents asked me last year about the possibility of a recreational dog park in Barnstable. I think it’s a nice idea, and would like to hear from anyone who agrees. If enough people do, I will start a committee that can research locations, costs, etc. Please contact me at JLBartonMM@aol.com if you would like to be a part of this effort.

The Marstons Mills Village Association and others have worked for some time on “cleaning up” the zoning in our village center. An item that will create a “Marstons Mills Village District.” approved by the Planning Board May 24, will be placed on the agenda for the Town Council to consider. Again, if anyone is interested in the details, please contact me and I will forward the information.

The Town Council is in the middle of budget deliberations, and as always, residents need to be made aware that we are living in difficult fiscal times. While the Town Manager and staff strive to maintain an agreeable level of service, resources are thin and there are fewer municipal employees trying their best to meet the growing needs of our citizens.

The Council’s sewer financing subcommittee recently concluded its discussions on current options for paying for our wastewater infrastructure needs. While a consensus was difficult to reach, there were a few provisions agreed to by the majority. One provides for a 50 percent betterment charge on sewering, the others were acceptance of the local options for an increase in the meals tax (which would amount to .75 on a $100.00 restaurant bill), and the other a 2 percent increase on the Hotel/Motel Tax. The two options forwarded to the Council then diverge. One includes improving private roads, takes no money out of the operating budget, and proposes a debt exclusion that would have to be approved in a town-wide election. The other proposes no private roads improvement, no debt exclusion, and takes almost a million dollars out of the operating budget.

I support the first option – our private roads are in sore need of attention, I am optimistic that an informed public would support a debt exclusion for a clean aquifer, and I cannot justify further decimating our operating budget in this town (60 percent of the cost would be borne by the school department). As an individual of modest means, even I can support paying an additional amount (less than $100 annually for a median-priced Barnstable home) to ensure my children and grandchildren will have a sustainable infrastructure for their future. And I use the term “town” pointedly – it is a town issue (actually a regional issue), not a village or precinct issue, and we need to accept that and work together. If we can’t be unified as a town, how can we expect other towns in this county to join us in what is really a Cape-wide necessity?

Working together is something I believe in, and something I have tried to do as an elected official and in all areas of my life. I am also a firm believer in the democratic process and the power of people to make positive change. Recently, I’ve been distressed to note a lack of kindness and respect in the civic arena. While I realize we are undergoing difficult times, it seems to me that in difficult times we should make an extra effort to be especially considerate of others. I support the democratic process - I believe in asking questions, challenging beliefs, expressing opposing viewpoints, and advocating for a position. That is the way things improve. even more strongly believe all of these things can and should be done with civility, respect and consideration of what it feels like to be in the other person’s shoes. I’m a positive thinker, so I believe this can be accomplished. As my mother always says, “It doesn’t cost anything to be nice.”